For an Albert Bridge man who did what some people regard as the unthinkable, his newly re­stored health feels like a miracle. “It is like some kind of mira­cle. I feel like I’ve been given a new life," he said during a tele­phone interview Friday.

As strange as it may sound, this man actually performed his own bacteriotherapy, which involved mixing donated feces — a donor sample that was laboratory-tested for safety — with water and injecting the mixture into his own body via an enema.

“It sounds awful, but here’s the important thing: it worked," he said.

The 66-year-old man, who has chosen not to make his name public, had suffered from a hos­pital- acquired clostridium diffi­cile (C. difficile) infection for over 18 months.

The racking pain and almost unceasing diarrhea could only be alleviated by a very expensive antibiotic, which gave some relief but had its own miserable side- effects.

“I lived with it for so long, it became unbearable and it can lead to sepsis and death," the man said.

He had been scheduled for what is known in the medical community as a fecal transplant, a procedure that involves a phy­sician injecting the same type of mixture of feces and water into the patient’s large bowel with a colonoscope.

Although not commonly per­formed in Canada, the procedure is done in some hospitals in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. And in some Eur­opean countries, it has become standard practice in cases where antibiotics have failed to rid the patient of the illness. There is anecdotal evidence that the procedure has a 90 per cent cure rate.

Undertaking a procedure of the kind this man performed on himself is definitely not for the faint of heart.

“There is a psychological bump you have to get over, but I was looking at the possibility of a colonectomy as the only way to get improved health, and I didn’t want to go through that," the man said of the prospect of having his colon removed.

“I was out of options."

The gastroenterologist who was to perform the fecal trans­plant at Cape Breton Regional Hospital in March was unable to do so because the hospital had approved protocols for the pro­cedure but not guidelines.

Dr. Barodi Fashir said Friday he believes fecal transplants will be performed in the Sydney hospital in the near future.

“It won’t be too long — the training will be in place and we will do it here, and it will be good for the hospital’s reputa­tion because we will be the first in Nova Scotia," Fashir said in a phone interview.

As for his patient, the special­ist was happy to hear the man’s health seems to have improved.

“There is a placebo effect, but after a minimum of six weeks, if he is symptom-free, then I’ll believe he’s cured," the doctor said.

But Fashir does not recom­mend anyone else try a fecal transplant at home.

“He’s lucky because it’s really not safe," the doctor said.

“It cost the hospital thousands of dollars to do the testing that needs to be done on the donor feces, and this is not something that should be done at home."

“I really don’t know how he had the will to do this himself, but I think he was scared by the thought of losing his bowel."

As for the patient, he is feeling fit as a fiddle.

“I’m going to visit my Aunt Pat tomorrow, who’s 80 years old, and she’s just like a mother to me," he said.

“I haven’t seen her in almost 18 months because we were concerned about my passing this on to her and my cousin’s wife, who has had cancer.

“Now I’m getting my life back — being unable to see the peo­ple I love was the hardest part."